London is surely one of the most famous locations for tennis in the world, thanks to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. The annual event, launched in 1877, is hosted by the England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, taking place over a period of two weeks in late June, or early July.

It’s totally unique, in that it’s the only one of the four “Grand Slam” tournaments that’s still played on grass. The only times in history that the Wimbledon championships weren’t held occurred from 1915 to 1918 and 1940 to 1945, due to the First and Second World Wars.

In the 1950s, the club moved to its current Church Road site, making history in 1967 by becoming the first broadcast that was televised in colour. The eyes of the world have been on Wimbledon Tennis Championships ever since and it’s arguably the most famous tennis event across the globe.

It’s always been mandatory that players wear all-white clothing and footwear for Wimbledon, as the event is steeped in history and tradition. The spectacle of the tournament is viewed by an estimated audience of more than one billion people spread across 200 territories. The Men’s Singles Final 2016 was watched on the BBC by 13.3 million people, the most viewed match of the tournament in the UK.

More than 54,000 tennis balls are used during the two-week Championships period, all of which are stored at 68 degrees Fahrenheit to keep them in peak playing condition.

Wimbledon is Europe’s largest single annual sporting catering operation, requiring 1,800 staff to keep the crowds supplied with 177,135 glasses of Pimm’s, 133,800 scones and 139,435 portions of strawberries, plus 2,772 kilos of bananas for the players!

It’s no coincidence that our professional team, here at Dragon Courts, has a solid client base in London. Our sports court services in the region remain constantly buoyant, with our cleaning, painting and line marking expertise in great demand as we enhance sports courts’ appearance, performance and safety.

Contact us today to find out more about our range of professional services in London.